Signaling mechanisms for network-relay interface with reduced overhead

ABSTRACT

Relay reporting in a wireless network is implemented by efficiently allocating radio resources based on the nature or criticality of the type of relay report. According to an embodiment, a method of communicating with a relay located in a wireless network includes instructing the relay when to transmit reports based on a mapping of different categories of relay reports to one or more different reporting schemes. Reports are received from the relay based on the relay report category and the corresponding reporting scheme. According to another embodiment, a method of reporting information from a relay to a network node of a wireless network includes generating different categories of reports at the relay for transmission to the network node. A reporting scheme associated with each report category is identified and each report is transmitted to the network node in accordance with the reporting scheme identified for the corresponding report category.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/469,752 filed May 21,2009, which is a which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/161,932, filed Mar. 20, 2009, and the contents of allof the preceding are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to relay operation in a wirelessnetwork, and more particularly relates to relay control and reporting.

BACKGROUND

A relay is a network node for enhancing the signal quality of the linkbetween a base station and user equipment. The coverage and cell edgedata rate can be considerably enhanced by using relays. There are threemain categories of relays: layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3 relays. Layer 1relays, also referred to as advanced repeaters, are expected to be oneof the potential technology components for LTE (Long Term Evolution)Advanced which is an enhancement of 3GPP (3rd Generation PartnershipProject) LTE. The terms ‘relay’ and ‘repeater’ are used interchangeablyherein and mean the same thing unless otherwise noted. The maindifference between an advanced repeater and a more conventional repeateris that an advanced repeater includes one or several advanced functions,such as frequency-selective amplification and controllability.

Frequency selective repeaters are particularly beneficial in OFDMA(Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access) systems where typicallyonly part of the cell bandwidth (e.g., a sub-set of resource blocks) isused by one UE (User Equipment) at a time. A frequency selectiverepeater only amplifies the part of the allocated bandwidth for whichthere exists an association between UE and the repeater. A layer 2 relayalso performs advanced functions such as decoding and correction of databefore forwarding the data to the next hop towards UE or an eNodeB(enhanced node B). To enable these advanced functions, typical layer 2related features such as scheduling, HARQ (Hybrid Automatic RepeatRequest), MAC (Media Access Control) etc. are implemented in layer 2relays. A layer 3 relay performs complete layer 3 related operationssuch as resource allocation, admission control etc. on the hop betweenitself and UE or between itself and the eNodeB. This requires the layer3 relay to implement complete layer 3 protocol aspects in addition tolower layers (e.g., layer 1 and layer 2).

To make a repeater controllable by an eNodeB, a new interface betweenthe eNodeB and the repeater referred to as the X3 interface has beenrecently introduced. Signaling alternatives for the X3 interface includePDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel)/PUCCH (Physical Uplink ControlChannel) signaling or L1 signaling, MAC control PDU (Protocol Data Unit)signaling and RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling. The same signalingalternatives may also apply to other types of relays, e.g. layer 2 andlayer 3 relays.

As described above, the main objective of the relay is to improve thelink quality so that coverage and cell edge bit rate can be increasedwithout requiring additional base stations. Depending upon the type ofrelay, the relay is typically controlled, monitored and configured bythe base station (e.g., eNodeB in LTE) or other network nodes such as aradio network controller or core network node. Depending upon variousfactors such as deployment scenario, system load, capacity/throughputtargets etc., certain parameters in the relays need to be updated atleast on a semi-static basis. Therefore a mechanism is needed thatallows the network (e.g. the base station) the possibility to configureand modify the parameters such as threshold levels for the algorithmsused at the relay node, even for a frequency selective repeater.

Furthermore, a relay may also encounter problems and experience partialor complete disruption. This has a direct impact on network performanceand therefore should be reported to the network. In response, dependingupon the severity and the nature of the fault, the network node (e.g.base station) ideally trouble shoots or otherwise rectifies the problemvia signaling to the relay. In general the communication between therelay and network node for the purpose of status reporting andconfiguration is mostly sporadic. In some cases the communicationbetween the relay and network node is not time critical, e.g. whenconfiguring thresholds for a particular algorithm used for amplifying asignal. It is also important that this type of signaling and messageexchange between the relay and network node does not adversely impact ordisrupt the normal relay operation. For instance, there should beminimal impact on the resources used for normal data or signalingtransmission between UE and the base station via the repeater.

Existing UE protocol stacks (L1, MAC or RRC) are conventionally reusedfor the reporting of faults, etc. by relays. As such, relays are treatedas if they were UE for all types of reporting to the network. Reusingthe existing UE protocol stacks in this way leads to relatively simplerimplementation and may not affect normal traffic between UE and networkif done very rarely, e.g. during initial setup of the relay. However,relay configuration (e.g. reconfiguration of the UE-relay association)or reporting by the relay (e.g. error/faults, etc.) is part of thenormal relay operation. Furthermore, the traffic/signaling between theeNodeB and relays may differ tremendously compared to that betweeneNodeB and UE. As such, reusing UE stacks for relays is not efficientenough. For example, if there are many relays frequently communicatingwith an eNodeB, there will be considerable signaling overhead, e.g.grants and assignments on PDCCH. The PDCCH capacity is quite limited tobegin with and therefore at least its frequent use for communicatingwith relays should be minimized as much as possible. In general theradio resources should be used in a manner so that the impact on normaloperation (i.e. between UE and network) is minimal.

As stated above, the signaling exchange between the network and relayfor the purpose of configuration, error reporting, etc. is inevitableduring relay operation. Such relay-to-network communication is referredto herein as reporting from the relay to the network or simply ‘relayreporting’. For the purpose of relay reporting, the use of normal radioresources and channels (e.g. PUSCH, PDCCH, etc.) is unavoidable, butshould be minimal to reduce the impact on normal operation between UEand the network.

SUMMARY

According to the methods and apparatus disclosed herein, relay reportingis implemented by efficiently allocating radio resources based on thenature or criticality of the type of relay report. In one embodiment,more critical categories of relay reports have a higher reportingpriority than less critical relay reports. In addition, the physicallayer channel structure of LTE is fully utilized. That is, nomodification of PDCCH, PUSCH etc. is necessary. Broadly, a signalingmechanism is provided for fault and status reporting from relays to thenetwork and for configuration of relays without significantly increasingsignaling overhead. Several relay reporting schemes are proposed thatreduce control signaling overhead, especially for L1 signaling.

A first relay reporting scheme referred to herein as the “periodicalapproach” involves periodical signaling between relays and the network,e.g. so that status reports can be periodically sent from relays.Another relay reporting scheme referred to herein as the“event-triggered approach” involves event-triggered signaling betweenrelays and the network, e.g. so that fault reports can be sent fromrelays. A third approach referred to herein as the “piggyback approach”involves exploring the characteristics of the traffic on the X3interface or other similar network-to-relay interface which is morepredictable than the interface between UE and base stations. Hence, thenetwork can allocate additional resources for relay reporting when thenetwork sends grants (i.e., allocates radio resources) to relays forother purposes. Furthermore the “piggyback approach” can be used by therelay for reporting non-urgent information to the network node (e.g., aneNodeB). A fourth relay reporting scheme referred to herein as the“interstitial scheduling approach” involves assigning resources to arelay for reporting when resources used for normal operation (e.g.,between UE and base station) are available in abundance or in otherwords when resource usage for normal operation is low. These variousrelay reporting schemes can work independently or complementarily.Another aspect of the invention is to categorize different types ofreports (e.g. urgent, occasional, etc.) and report each categoryaccording to the most suitable reporting scheme. Such a mapping can bestandardized or can be an algorithm in the network.

According to one embodiment, a method of communicating with a relaylocated in a wireless network includes instructing the relay when totransmit reports based on a mapping of different categories of relayreports to one or more different reporting schemes. Reports are receivedfrom the relay based on the relay report category and the correspondingreporting scheme.

According to another embodiment, a method of reporting information froma relay to a network node of a wireless network includes generatingdifferent categories of reports at the relay for transmission to thenetwork node. A reporting scheme associated with each report category isidentified and each report is transmitted to the network node inaccordance with the reporting scheme identified for the correspondingreport category.

Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above featuresand advantages. Those skilled in the art will recognize additionalfeatures and advantages upon reading the following detailed description,and upon viewing the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelessnetwork including a relay.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a network nodethat interfaces with a relay in a wireless network.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a periodical relay reporting scheme.

FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a periodical relay reportingscheme.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of an event-triggered relay reportingscheme.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a piggybacked relay reportingscheme.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an interstitial relay reportingscheme.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a mapping of relay report categoriesto relay reporting schemes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a wireless network 100 for servingUE 102. In one embodiment, the wireless network 100 has a network coresuch as an LTE evolved packet core and an air interface such as E-UTRAN(Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network). The LTE evolved packetcore includes an MME (Mobility Management Entity) 104 which is acontrol-node for the LTE access-network and handles idle mode UEtracking and paging procedure including retransmissions. The LTE evolvedpacket core further includes an S-GW (Serving Gateway) 106 for routingand forwarding user data packets. The S-GW 106 also functions as amobility anchor for the user plane during inter-base station handoversand as an anchor for mobility between LTE and other 3GPP technologies.The air interface of the wireless network 100 includes base stations 108such as eNodeB and one or more relays 110 associated with each basestation 108. Various interfaces such as S1-CP and S1-UP enablecommunication between the network core and the air interface (i.e., withthe base stations). The base stations 108 can communicate with oneanother over another interface such as the X2 interface (e.g., X2-CP andX2-UP interfaces).

Each relay 110, which can be an advanced repeater in some embodiments,and the corresponding base station 108 communicate over an interfacesuch as the X3 interface. The relay configuration and reportingembodiments described herein can broadly apply to other wireless networktechnologies and topologies. Thus, while operation of the wirelessnetwork 100 is explained next with reference to an eNodeB base stationin LTE for ease of explanation, such description is exemplary andnon-limiting. Hence, the term “network node” as used herein can refer toan eNodeB in LTE or other type of base station as well as other networknodes such as a radio network controller (not shown) or a core networknode (e.g., the MME 104, S-GW 106, etc.).

With this understanding, the eNodeB 108 communicates with thecorresponding relay 110 by instructing the relay 110 when to transmitrelay reports based on a mapping of different categories of reports toone or more reporting schemes. The eNodeB 108 then receives reports fromthe relay 110 based on the relay report category and the correspondingreporting scheme. The traffic on the eNodeB-to-relay interface (e.g., X3interface) has some characteristics, which differ from the traffic andsignaling exchanged between UE 102 and eNodeB 108. The network 100 canmake use of these characteristics for determining when a particularrelay 110 is allocated radio resources for transmitting reports. Forexample, a relay 110 may need to periodically report its status, e.g. byreporting amplification gain, temperature, etc. This type of relayreport is categorized as periodical because of the periodic nature ofthe reports. The relay 110 may also send fault reports generated whenthere is a problem with the relay 110. This type of relay report iscategorized as event-triggered because of the sporadic nature of thereporting. In yet another example, when the traffic between the relay110 and corresponding eNodeB 108 is related to signaling, the traffic ismore predictable compared with the traffic between UE 102 and eNodeB108. This type of relay report is categorized as predictable because ofthe well-defined nature of the reports.

The characteristics of the eNodeB-to-relay interface are particularlyassociated with an L1 relay, but are also applicable for all types ofrelays since their principle objective is the same. Various embodimentsare described next with focus on repeaters, but these embodiments applyequally for all types of repeaters (i.e., relays). Considering thecharacteristics of the eNodeB-to-relay interface described above,several relay signaling methods are described separately. Rules can bespecified between the network node (e.g., eNodeB 108) and thecorresponding relay 110 for mapping the type of relay signaling to aparticular type of relay reporting scheme, better optimizing the use ofradio resources for relay reporting.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the relay and a network node 200(e.g., eNodeB 108, etc.) associated with the relay 110. The network node200 includes a radio resource allocation module 202 and a reportprocessing module 204. The radio resource allocation module 202instructs the relay 110 when to transmit reports based on a mapping ofdifferent categories of relay reports to one or more different reportingschemes. The report processing module 204 processes reports receivedfrom the relay 110 based on the relay report category and thecorresponding reporting scheme. In some embodiments, the mapping isfixed and predetermined. This way, the mapping can be implemented in astandardized manner. In other embodiments, the network node 200 includesa mapping module 206 for modifying the mapping based on a change in oneor more conditions in the wireless network 100 observed by the networknode 200. This way, the associations between different types of relayreports and reporting schemes can be modified as the network node 200observes network activity over time. The network node 200 can furtherinclude a relay monitoring module 208 for periodically probing the relay110 to determine whether the relay 110 has a report ready fortransmission. The radio resource allocation module 202, in conjunctionwith the relay monitoring module 208, can allocate radio resources tothe relay 110 when the relay 110 has a report ready for transmission asdescribed in more detail later herein. The relay monitoring module 208can also detect whether a predefined condition occurs or is expected tooccur at the relay 110. This way, the radio resource allocation module202 can allocate radio resources responsive to the relay monitoringmodule 208 detecting a predefined condition at the relay 110 so that therelay 110 can report information relating to the predefined condition ifthe predefined condition occurred also as described in more detail laterherein.

The relay 110 has a report generation module 210 and a reporttransmission module 212. The report generation module 210 generatesdifferent types of reports for transmission to the network node 200. Thereport transmission module 212 identifies a reporting scheme associatedwith each category of report and transmits each report to the networknode 200 in accordance with the reporting scheme associated with thecorresponding report category. In some embodiments, the reporttransmission module 212 accesses a mapping received from the networknode 200 that maps each report category to one or more reportingschemes. The report transmission module 212 uses this mapping todetermine which reporting scheme is to be used for each particularreport type. In one embodiment, the mapping is based on a criticalityassociated with each category of report so that more critical reportshave a higher reporting priority than less critical reports.

Described next in more detail are various embodiments of the relayreporting schemes which can be signaled from the network node 200 to thecorresponding relay 110 for use by the relay 110 in signaling reportsback to the network node 200. A first one of the relay reporting schemesis referred to herein as the “periodical approach” and involvesperiodical signaling between the relay 110 and the corresponding networknode 200 so that status reports can be periodically sent from the relay110 to the network node 200. The periodical approach is intended mainlyfor periodical signaling between the relay 110 and network node 200. Inone embodiment, the network node 200 (e.g. eNodeB 108) periodicallyprobes the relay 110 to inquire whether there is anything for the relay110 to report back to the network 100. When the relay 110 has somethingto report, suitable radio resources are granted to relay reporting. Inone embodiment, the resources allocated for relay reporting are forPhysical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). This embodiment allows moreeffective control of the uplink resources since the resources areassigned periodically on demand or as-needed basis. This embodiment doeshowever require downlink transmission e.g. PDCCH and a resourceallocation phase.

FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the “periodical” relayreporting scheme where at least some resources for periodical relayreporting are reserved in advance. The network node 200 (e.g. eNodeB108) reserves periodical PUSCH resources blocks 300 for thecorresponding relay 110 and informs the relay 110 about the resourceswith higher layer signaling. The notification can be done at initialsetup of the relay 110. The assignment of periodical resources can bereassessed from time-to-time by the network node 200 at infrequentintervals. For instance, if the network node 200 notices that relayreports are not fully utilizing all or most of the allocated resources,the amount of resources assigned to the relay 110 can be reduced or theperiodicity of reporting can be extended. While FIG. 3 shows periodicalPUSCH resources blocks 300 being allocated to at least three differentrelays 110, the network 100 can reserve periodical radio resources forany number of relays 110 included in the network 100. The secondembodiment of the “periodical” relay reporting scheme enables the relay110 to report using reserved resources, without the intervention ofPDCCH.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the second “periodical” relayreporting scheme. According to this embodiment, the amount of reservedresources allocated to each relay 110 is adapted according to the amountof information to be reported to the corresponding network node 200. Thenetwork node 200 can update the reserved resources by reconfiguring therelay 110 via higher layer signaling. The second embodiment of the“periodical” relay reporting scheme does not require a grant on PDCCH,and hence PDCCH resources are saved. However, some PUSCH resources cango unused if the relay 110 has nothing to report or if resourceutilization is low.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of another relay reporting schemereferred to herein as the “event-triggered approach” which involvesevent-triggered signaling between the relay 110 and the correspondingnetwork node 200 so that fault reports can be sent from the relay 110responsive to the occurrence of a particular event. According to thisembodiment, the network node 200 (e.g. eNodeB 108) detects autonomouslywhether a predefined condition occurs or is expected to occur at therelay 110 (Step 500). In such a scenario, the network node 200 allocatesradio resources to the relay 110 so that the relay 110 can reportinformation relating to the predefined condition if the predefinedcondition occurred (Step 502). In one embodiment, the eNodeB 108 assignsan uplink grant to the relay 110 for reporting the failure or problem orany other predefined error condition.

According to one embodiment of the “event-triggered approach”, relay andUE location is determined by the network 100 based on the direction ofarrival (DOA) of signal, path-loss and/or round trip time (RTT). If thereceived signal qualities of the UE 102 around a particular relay 110are below a certain threshold, then either association (between UE 102and relay 110) is not good enough or a possible problem has occurredwith the relay 110. In response, the responsible network node 200 cansend an uplink grant to the relay 110 and request the relay 110 toreport about the incident. In cases of a technical fault, the relay 110reports the fault to the requesting network node 200. The report maycomprise a predefined message mapped to a particular type of fault.Otherwise, the relay 110 indicates there is no technical fault or errorby sending a predefined message (e.g. ‘normal operation’).

A modification can be made to the “event-triggered approach” when asevere fault occurs at the relay 110. This reporting scheme is referredto herein as the “event-triggered periodical approach.” In the event ofa severe fault, regular or periodical reports may be needed or desiredfrom the relay 110 to obtain sufficient and necessary feedback so thatproblem can be properly understood and rectified by the network 100. Assuch, periodic radio resources can be allocated to the relay 110 after asevere relay fault is detected so that the affected relay 110 canperiodically report information associated with the severe fault.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of yet another relay reporting schemereferred to herein as the “piggyback approach” which involves allocatingadditional resources for relay reporting when the network 100 sendsgrants (i.e., allocates radio resources) to a relay 110 for otherpurposes. According to one embodiment of the “piggyback approach”, thenetwork node 200 (e.g. eNodeB 108) sends an uplink grant to a certainrelay 110 for a specific purpose and also assigns additional resourcesto the same relay 110 for reporting. Additional uplink grants areassigned when the network 100 is able to predict whether a particularrelay 110 is expected to report something to the network 100. Thenetwork 100 may also be able to judge a priori the nature, type and theamount of the expected relay reports. If some additional reports areneeded or desired, the network node 200 allocates additional resourcesbeyond which are required by the original purpose. Accordingly, wheneverthere is an uplink grant and the grant is big enough, there is stillroom left for additional reports. The resources allocated in accordancewith this approach are illustrated in FIG. 6.

According to another embodiment of the “piggyback approach”, the networknode 200 (e.g. eNodeB 108) configures a particular relay 110 from timeto time, e.g. by signaling some UE lists to the relay 110 forestablishing a UE-repeater association. This type of configuration takesplace via higher layer signaling, e.g. via RRC signaling which typicallyrequires reliable transfer of data. The reliable data transfer requiresthe use of acknowledged mode RLC. This means the reverse channel (e.g.,PUSCH) is used to send back RLC level ACK/NACK (Acknowledgement/NoAcknowledgement) or other type of status reporting. Hence the networknode 200 can allocate a slightly larger uplink grant to account forrelay reporting via the “piggyback approach”. The relay 110 can thenreuse the grant for reporting and thus no extra PDCCH overhead isneeded.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a relay reporting scheme referred toherein as the “interstitial scheduling approach” which involvesassigning resources to a relay 110 for reporting when resources used fornormal operation (e.g., between UE 102 and base station 108) areavailable in abundance or in other words when resource usage for normaloperation is low. According to this embodiment, the network 100 grantsuplink resources to the relay 110 for reporting when the usage of uplinkresources for normal operation (i.e. for transmission between UE 102 andnetwork 100) is very or below a certain threshold. Such conditionstypically occur when the network load is low. The allocation of anuplink grant to the relay 110 therefore does not impact or onlyminimally impacts the normal network operation. The term ‘interstitialscheduling’ as used herein means scheduling a relay 110 for possiblereporting when there is a lull in normal data (or signaling)transmission. The assigned uplink grant for relay reporting depends uponthe amount of available resources and the impact the uplink grant has onnormal operation.

In addition, the duration of interstitial scheduling preferably dependsupon the period of low activity of normal operation. Such periods of lownetwork activity are typically sporadic and last for a short period oftime, e.g. a few transmission time intervals (TTI). When the“interstitial scheduling approach” is employed, a relay 110 can transmitoutstanding reports (e.g. possible faults, erroneous operation etc). Insome embodiments, the corresponding network node 200 can instruct therelay 110 to transmit more urgent reports during a period of low networkactivity using the radio resources allocated to the relay prior totransmitting less urgent reports. As stated above, the criterion toinitiate the interstitial scheduling for enabling relay reporting is ingeneral based on the currently used resources. Specifically, theinitiation of the interstitial scheduling scheme can be based onresource block usage or received/transmit power or some combinationthereof.

In yet another embodiment, relay reporting can be based on proactiveresource assignment where a network node 200 assigns uplink resources toa particular relay 110 at any time when convenient. This differs fromother schemes such as the “piggyback approach” and the “interstitialscheduling approach” in that the proactive assignment can be doneanytime regardless of any specific condition.

The network node 200 assigned to each relay 110 handles mapping betweenthe relay reporting schemes and different categories of relay reports.The mapping can be fixed and predetermined or changed responsive to achange in one or more conditions associated with the wireless network100 as previously described herein. The mapping can either bestandardized or can be an algorithm in the network node 200 (e.g. eNodeB108). An established mapping ensures more effective use of the reportingmethods described herein for different types of relay reports.

Groups of different types of possible relay reports are first groupedinto respective categories. Table 1 below illustrates some exemplaryreport categories with different types of relay reports. The reportcategories can have varying degrees of criticality, i.e. importance orurgency. For example, a severe and urgent relay report for indicatingthe disruption of an important relay component is more critical than anoccasional and non-urgent relay report for indicating that a maximumpower limit has been reached. The different categories of relay reportsare then mapped to one or more particular reporting schemes.

TABLE 1 No. Relay Report Category Relay Report Type 1 Periodical/regularAmplification gain, temperature 2 Occasional and urgent Faults and errordisrupting partial or complete operation 3 Predictable and urgentImproper UE - relay association 4 Occasional but non urgent Reachingmaximum power limit 5 Predictable but non urgent Incorrect thresholdlevels used for amplification 6 Severe and urgent Disruption ofimportant component of relay

In one embodiment, a one-to-one mapping is provided between relay reportcategory and reporting scheme. Thus, each category of relay report isassociated with a unique reporting scheme. Table 2 provides an exampleof mapping the relay report categories to reporting scheme based on thefirst embodiment, i.e. a one-to-one mapping.

TABLE 2 No. Relay Report Category Relay Reporting Scheme 1 Regular andtime critical Periodical Approach 2 Occasional and urgentEvent-triggered Approach 3 Predictable and urgent Event-triggeredApproach 4 Occasional but non urgent Piggyback Approach 5 Predictablebut non urgent Piggyback Approach 6 Any type; urgent first InterstitialScheduling Approach 7 Severe and urgent Event-triggered PeriodicalApproach

FIG. 8 illustrates a second embodiment where more than one reportingscheme can be mapped to the same category of relay report. According tothis embodiment, certain report categories (e.g. categories 4, 6 and 7in FIG. 8) can be sent by using more than one reporting mechanism. Ineither embodiment, the mapping of report category to reporting schemecan be based on a criticality associated with each category of relayreport so that more critical reports have a higher reporting prioritythan less critical reports. For example, any of the urgent categories ofrelay reports can be mapped to the “event-triggered” reporting scheme sothat urgent relay reports receive top priority for radio resources,e.g., as shown in Table 2 and FIG. 8. Less critical relay report typescan be mapped to a reporting scheme having a lower priority such as the“piggyback approach” also as shown in Table 2 and FIG. 8. By employingthe proposed relay reporting schemes, L1 control signaling can be keptlow when relays 110 report information to the network 100. In addition,the impact on the usage of resources for normal operation between thenetwork 100 and UE 102 is reduced since resources allocated for relayreporting are assigned according to well established rules.

With the above range of variations and applications in mind, it shouldbe understood that the present invention is not limited by the foregoingdescription, nor is it limited by the accompanying drawings. Instead,the present invention is limited only by the following claims, and theirlegal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of communicating with a relay located ina wireless network, the method comprising: instructing the relay when totransmit reports based on a mapping of different categories of relayreports to one or more different reporting schemes; receiving reportsfrom the relay based on the relay report category and the correspondingreporting scheme; identifying a period of low user equipmenttransmission activity; and allocating radio resources to the relayduring the period of low user equipment transmission activity.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the mapping is fixed and predetermined. 3.The method of claim 1, comprising modifying the mapping based on achange in one or more conditions associated with the wireless network.4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the categories ofrelay reports is mapped to more than one of the reporting schemes. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the mapping is based on a criticalityassociated with each category of relay report so that more criticalrelay reports have a higher reporting priority than less critical relayreports.
 6. The method of claim 1, comprising: periodically probing therelay to determine whether the relay has a report ready fortransmission; and allocating radio resources to the relay when the relayhas a report ready for transmission.
 7. The method of claim 1,comprising: reserving periodical radio resources for use by the relay intransmitting reports; and informing the relay of the reserved periodicalradio resources.
 8. The method of claim 7, comprising reassessing theamount of periodical radio resources reserved for the relay based onprior utilization of the periodical radio resources by the relay fortransmitting reports.
 9. The method of claim 1, comprising: detectingwhether a predefined condition occurs or is expected to occur at therelay; and allocating radio resources to the relay responsive todetecting the predefined condition so that the relay can reportinformation relating to the predefined condition if the predefinedcondition occurred.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predefinedcondition corresponds to a severe fault at the relay and the radioresources are periodically allocated so that the relay can periodicallyreport information associated with the severe fault.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, comprising allocating radio resources to the relay for aparticular purpose and additional radio resources that are unnecessaryfor the specific purpose so that the relay can transmit one or morereports using the additional allocated resources.
 12. The method ofclaim 1, comprising instructing the relay to transmit more urgentreports using the radio resources allocated to the relay prior totransmitting less urgent reports.
 13. A network node comprising: atleast one processor configured to generate information to instruct arelay when to transmit reports based on a mapping of differentcategories of relay reports to one or more different reporting schemes,and further configured to process reports received from the relay basedon the relay report category and the corresponding reporting scheme; andat least one transmitter configured to transmit the information to therelay; wherein the at least one processor is operable to identify aperiod of low user equipment transmission activity and allocate radioresources to the relay during the period of low user equipmenttransmission activity.
 14. The network node of claim 13, wherein themapping is fixed and predetermined.
 15. The network node of claim 13,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to modify themapping based on a change in one or more wireless network conditionsobserved by the network node.
 16. The network node of claim 13, whereinat least one of the categories of relay reports is mapped to more thanone of the reporting schemes.
 17. The network node of claim 13, whereinthe mapping is based on a criticality associated with each category ofrelay report so that more critical relay reports have a higher reportingpriority than less critical relay reports.
 18. The network node of claim13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured toperiodically probe the relay to determine whether the relay has a reportready for transmission and wherein the at least one processor isoperable to allocate radio resources to the relay when the relay has areport ready for transmission.
 19. The network node of claim 13, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to reserve periodicalradio resources for use by the relay in transmitting reports and informthe relay of the reserved periodical radio resources.
 20. The networknode of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to reassess the amount of periodical radio resources reservedfor the relay based on prior utilization of the periodical radioresources by the relay for transmitting reports.
 21. The network node ofclaim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured todetect whether a predefined condition occurs or is expected to occur atthe relay and wherein the at least one processor is still furtherconfigured to allocate radio resources to the relay responsive to therelay monitoring module detecting the predefined condition so that therelay can report information relating to the predefined condition if thepredefined condition occurred.
 22. The network node of claim 21, whereinthe predefined condition corresponds to a severe fault at the relay andat least one processor is further configured to allocate periodic radioresources to the relay so that the relay can periodically reportinformation associated with the severe fault.
 23. The network node ofclaim 13, wherein the at least one processor is operable to allocateradio resources to the relay for a particular purpose and additionalradio resources that are unnecessary for the specific purpose so thatthe relay can transmit one or more reports using the additionalallocated resources.
 24. The network node of claim 13, wherein the atleast one processor is operable to instruct the relay to transmit moreurgent reports using the radio resources allocated to the relay prior totransmitting less urgent reports.